In the Name of Progress
by Mizor4
Summary: The Aether Foundation's biotechnology division has been making advances far quicker than should be possible, and in violation of international agreements. An undercover agent manages to smuggle one of their weapons back to Unova.
1. Chapter 1

Nausea woke Zoroark, almost driving her to find somewhere to wretch. She lay on her stomach, chin resting on the stiff white sheets of a hard cot. The weight of her own body, little as it was, only added to the dizzying unease roiling her gut.

A biting and unfamiliar pain deep in her upper back made her reconsider moving, so she remained still, taking slow, easy breaths, pausing to let her stomach settle, and hoping she didn't end up laying in her own sick. Any thought more complex than instinctive survival, who, where she was, returned slowly.

Unfortunately, she did remember eventually. The recovery room had little in it aside from her uncomfortable cot and a small stool next to the counter at the far wall, the same white painted concrete as her regular quarters. Nothing but a computer terminal, screen dark, sat on the counter top. At least they dimmed the lights while she slept.

Zoroark let out a small whimper, only sure it wouldn't bring up more a few moments after the acidic tickle in her throat passed. The gentle airflow from a vent in the ceiling stabbed icy chills into her back. They must have shaved a wide strip down the top half of her spine. She felt another strip removed from just below her ribs, uncomfortably bare against rough linen.

No machines connected to her, monitoring her vitals or alerting the scientists when she woke. They wouldn't risk any unnecessary harm or recovery time, so she could probably move without injury. Still, the ache tightened menacingly through her shoulders and along her spine.

Her eyelids squeezed shut, desperate to return to the pleasant nothingness of drugged sleep, but it only served to amplify the rocking, swirling turmoil that threatened to empty her stomach. With effort, she managed to pull herself far enough along the cot to let her muzzle hang off the edge. At least if she threw up, most of it would land on the floor. She didn't move again for a long time.

Gentle silence soothed her, at least for a time, a serene reprieve from the incessant electric buzz in her head that accompanied her link to the Aether Foundation's machine. She couldn't even detect the more subtle, passive corrections that didn't require a full connection, though even after all this time she couldn't always tell for sure.

Her mind was hers, for now – miserable, impotent, but hers. Not that she had anything to think about, really, but it felt strangely intimate, so wholly alone with her unmolested thoughts. They would notice her awake eventually, come for her, reclaim her. Only then would she find out what they did to her, and she knew better than to look forward to that. She tried not to dwell. It only encouraged her physical unease, and she should enjoy what she could from her small freedom.

At some point Zoroark fell asleep, because the sound of the door jerked her awake. A tall thin man entered wearing a long white lab coat. She had not seen this one before, younger than most, black hair neatly combed across the top of his head. Her brief examination took too long, and their eyes met before she could feign sleep.

The scientist closed the door quickly behind him. He spoke in a hushed but sharp voice. "You're awake. Good."

It couldn't start again so soon. Her back throbbed, and while not as bad as before, the queasiness made her want to curl up and yell. Listless tears trickled down the short fur of her muzzle. If the scientist noticed, he didn't show it. They never did.

"We don't have much time," the man continued. "I can take you away from this place. Will you come with me?"

Dread reached into her chest with his words. Was this some kind of test? Not now, not when her mind already limped through a muddling fog of exhaustion and hurt. Zoroark shook ever so slightly in the cot, eyes squeezed shut as if that would somehow bar the world from her, no choices, no thinking, no feeling.

"I need your answer, Sophi."

Zoroark's eyes snapped open to glare at the human. She hated this man, to come in and taunt her. It had to be a trick. He stood a pace from her, a smokey gray sphere with a silver band circling it held in one hand.

"I-" Her tongue adhered to the roof of her parched mouth, and it took her a moment to force words from her raspy throat. "I belong here." The human didn't appear to have water on him, just that sinister sphere.

He frowned, voice softening somewhat. "I know what they do to you." He spoke as if he wasn't one of them. "This device can hide you long enough for us to leave. I can take you to Unova where you'll be safe."

Zoroark eyed the sphere. "Why?"

"I don't have time to explain everything. What they do here it isn't right."

Zoroark laughed, or tried to, but only a hateful, grating sound made it from her chest. He'd be killed if Aether Foundation discovered him. No one would risk that to save her. Zoroark's large red claws ripped small holes in the thin cotton sheets. If she just lay here, and didn't answer, didn't think – it wouldn't be her fault if someone stole her, couldn't be. But what if it wasn't a lie? If she could truly leave. Dangerous thoughts.

"I'm going to use this device. It doesn't have the power to hold you if you fight it. It won't hurt. Please, let me take you away from here."

Tears warmed the fur around her eyes. She couldn't fight him. She didn't dare hope, but she couldn't refuse what he pretended to offer. Brilliant red light filled her vision, and then she no longer had to exist.

* * *

Zoroark felt aware of the journey, in a vague, distant sort of way, like half listening to someone explain something uninteresting. Movement and people, maybe talking. It felt wonderful, no thought, no dreams, the merest remembrance of herself. Then reality crashed back around her, a flash of red light, and a gut wrenching twist as the world reoriented around her. She remembered laying down, her body remembered laying down, and now she stood.

Zoroark made it halfway to her knees, bracing herself against the cold concrete wall, before she vomited. Moving didn't agitate the ache in her back nearly as bad as she expected it to, but the powerful clench of her stomach tugged at pains she didn't know could exist.

A man's voice spoke somewhere, familiar, the same man from before? "Shit. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Like she were in any position to move. Only a thin spit of bile and what felt like the last remaining moisture in her entire body spattered to the ground in one terrible heave. She retched a few more times but had nothing left to give. Her muscles clenched nonetheless, trying to force her spine out her back. The two lesser wounds on her belly felt only slightly less awful.

Two humans returned, based on the sound of their footsteps, hurried on the concrete floor. Zoroark panted, too exhausted to react to a hand on her shoulder.

"Here," the same voice said.

Zoroark opened a bleary eye, and the human held a large cup out to her. She took it, not even looking to see what it contained before slumping with her back to the wall next to her small puddle of sick, and dumped cold water into her mouth. More of it splashed down her chest than her throat, but she didn't care, taking deep, wild gulps that threatened to bring it all back up. She couldn't stop herself.

The last drops trickled out, and the dregs of her sudden desperate energy failed. Breathing hard, she finally looked up at the two humans.

The first, the one who offered her the glass, was indeed the man from before. He no longer dressed as a scientist. Instead he wore an unremarkable red long-sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans, his black hair combed neatly as it had been.

The other human, however, the one she hadn't seen before, wore a long perfectly white lab coat, the same sure expression she had seen on all the others. A deep hatred, so long controlled yet now bubbling to the surface, only restrained by her body's utter inability to do more than shake.

Her maybe rescuer spoke first. "This is Doctor Farren. He's one of our best pokemon specialists."

Zoroark's singular word came out as a hoarse bark. "No."

"He's not going to hurt you. He just wants to make sure you aren't going to reopen-"

"Do I have a say in this?" Zoroark choked out, interrupting him.

"Yes," he said slowly, "but-"

The ferocity she managed to force from her lungs surprised even her, words barely understandable through the snarl twisting her lips. "Then send him away."

The two humans shared a brief look, but the doctor eventually shrugged and walked away down the long, concrete hallway. They must be underground somewhere.

"Is there anything I can get you?" the man asked placatingly.

Zoroark felt slightly better, marginally less hateful, anyway. No one had ever done something because she asked before. "Who are you?"

"My name is Avery. I worked undercover at the Aether Foundation lab where you were kept. Though I guess I won't being going back there either." He flashed an encouraging smile.

Zoroark glared in return. "Why? They'll kill you."

"Hopefully not," he chuckled, far more carefree than he should. "Do you want to have this conversation now? We can talk in the morning, after you've had time to sleep. We prepared a room," he motioned to a door only two paces away Zoroark hadn't noticed. "It's not much, all we could do on short notice. I'm sure we can find you something a little more comfortable tomorrow." He actually looked a little sheepish.

Zoroark didn't want the chance for answers to slip away, but her thoughts grew hazy as if in protest. She might not even be able to lift herself from floor. "Sleep," she mumbled, trying to ignore both him and the sick on the ground beside her.

Avery offered a hand, and after some consideration, the thought of rest too enticing, she took it. He more than half dragged her to unsteady feet. Luckily her stomach seemed to cooperate, likely too tired with the rest of her.

He hadn't lied. The room had barely enough space for the small bed and table beside it. A single bare incandescent bulb jut from the ceiling, the entire room solid, unadorned concrete save for a vent set into the far wall. Zoroark liked the confined space. She had grown used to cells. Zoroark almost collapsed towards the bed and a small pile of blankets, so soft and inviting, but the steadying hand on her shoulder held her a moment.

Zoroark turned, and Avery the human drew her into a gentle but no less powerful hug. For a moment, Zoroark didn't know what to do. She stood, her arms limp at her sides, but the strong warmth of his chest, the way his arms curled protectively around her back, her face naturally nestled into his shoulder – she mirrored the unfamiliar gesture almost reflexively.

He spoke softly into the top of her head, soothing. "They'll never hurt you again."

Avery's shirt grew strangely warm just around where her eye pressed against him. Then she realized the tears falling unhindered down her other cheek. She instinctively tried to pull away, not show weakness in front of this unfamiliar human, but he held onto her tightly, and she didn't have the strength to resist.

Zoroark cried, not the quiet contained weeping that overtook her some nights, alone in an Aether Foundation lab, but the embarrassing full-bodied sobs of a broken soul. Her large claws bit at Avery's back, and had she the presence of mind, she would have noticed him wince. She didn't though, and he didn't pull away, letting her weep into his chest for what felt like hours, hard enough she almost made herself sick again.

Avery's hand stroked the back of her bristly shaved head and gently down her neck. His other arm held her back tight, supporting most of her weight himself. He didn't speak, for which Zoroark was grateful.

Eventually, once she had cried herself silent, Avery helped her onto the cot, her belly still slightly damp from the water she spilled earlier. It didn't matter. The moment her chin touched the bed, Zoroark fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Zoroark woke on her own, to silence. It almost didn't seem real. A constant pain throbbed softly along her back, but it felt less vindictive than yesterday. Every muscle in her chest still felt tight from- Well she didn't want to think about breaking down in front of that human last night. A flame of anger flared in her chest, but she didn't have the wakefulness yet to stoke it.

A tiny soft light glowed on the wall next to a switch, probably for the main bulb overhead. Zoroark sat up but didn't bother to turn it on, the limited light enough for her large eyes to make out her tiny concrete box, little as there was. Someone had placed a glass of water on the small table beside the bed, which Zoroark drank, intensely grateful to whoever left it.

Yesterday felt like some kind of dream, or a crazed side-effect of the surgery brought on by pain and powerful anesthetics. But the silence in her mind, she had never been so long without her connection to the Aether Foundation's machine, free of its subtle yet compelling influence.

She pushed herself off the cot and made her way, barely more than a step, to the door. The latch turned. Light from beyond the room blinded her for a moment, but the hallway looked no different than she remembered, definitely not any part of the Aether Foundation lab she had seen.

A human man in a crisp uniform turned from where he stood with his back to the wall beside the door. "Good afternoon. Can I help you?"

Zoroark blinked to clear her vision. Maybe the man simply waited to see if she needed anything. Maybe. His sharp black pants didn't have any visible weapons at the waist, nor could she make one out under the navy jacket he wore.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Where is the human- Avery," she corrected herself. "He brought me here."

The man nodded. "Of course. I'll call him but it might be a few minutes. I'll send him in when he arrives."

He didn't tell her she couldn't leave, but his position blocking the doorway did. She would have to wriggle past him to leave. He didn't move.

"Sure." Zoroark slowly let the door swing shut, dropping the room into near darkness. She sat back down onto the cot and waited, trying to ignore the icy feeling in the back of her neck.

Zoroark had no sense of time in the artificially lit room. She rarely saw actual sunlight while locked in the underground Aether Foundation lab, but her connection allowed her to track time almost as accurately as any clock. She found herself unable to now. It could have been minutes or hours. Eventually, a soft knock sounded from the other side of the door, and it opened a moment later revealing Avery.

He smiled. "You don't have to sit in the dark, you know," and flicked on the light. "Are you hungry?" His dark green, almost black long-sleeve shirt looked almost identical to the one he wore yesterday aside from the color.

Zoroark nodded before she even thought to respond. The nausea from last night left her stomach empty and aching. She rose silently.

Avery motioned her through the door, then reached back in to turn the light off again. Zoroark couldn't explain why that small inefficiency bothered her as much as it did. Once he started down the hallway, Zoroark fell into step a pace behind.

Avery led down a long featureless concrete hallway. "It's hard to have a conversation with you back there."

Zoroark moved slightly closer but kept her eyes on the ground. "He was a guard."

Avery grimaced. "Well, yes." He pushed on without giving her the chance to interrupt. "But you're not a prisoner. This just isn't somewhere we let relative strangers wander about. Sorry."

That made sense, but it made Zoroark feel only slightly better. How long would she be a relative stranger? And when would they let someone like her leave? Where would she even go? Captive one way or another.

They passed a few other humans on the way, some in similar dress to the guard at her door, some in long white coats that Zoroark shied away from, but none wore civilian clothing like Avery. Their eyes all lingered on her. They didn't come across any other pokemon on their way.

After a quick ride in an elevator and a number of turns through unmarked, maze-like hallways Zoroark quickly lost track of, Avery led her into a large open room with rows of tables, most of the chairs currently empty, and a large kitchen at the far side. Warm savory scents instantly caught her attention.

Dozens of eyes flicked towards her, and quick whispers brought her to the attention of more. Zoroark shifted uncomfortably, turned heads not even attempting discretion.

Avery seemed to pick up on her unease. "Want me to get you something?"

Zoroark nodded, feeling foolish, but quietly found a chair at a corner table where she could place her back to the wall. At first she thought it was because she hadn't seen any other pokemon, but then she remembered how she must look.

The Aether Foundation scientists had kept her mane shaved for so long she almost forgot Zoroark usually had one, and large patches of her otherwise silky coat had been shaved from her belly and back. She must look a deranged, ratty thing. She quickly wrapped herself in an illusion, replacing her missing fur and mane, though not one she could hug about herself like she wished. Doing so while everyone watched only drew more of an interested buzz from the onlookers, however. Anger simmered in her tensed muscles. She shouldn't make obvious mistakes like that, never had before.

Zoroark huddled low in her chair by the time Avery returned with a small plate for himself and what seemed like some of everything heaped onto a platter, which he placed in front of her.

"We don't normally server many pokemon here, but you can get more of anything you like." Avery hesitantly placed utensils in front of her as if only now wondering if she could use them. His eyes took in her new appearance, mane and belly, but he said nothing.

Zoroark stared at the strange assortment of eggs, ham, a few plump blue berries, and something green she immediately dismissed. She hesitated, not quite meeting Avery's gaze. "Thank you – last night I mean. And this. And-"

"Don't mention it," he replied gently.

Zoroark didn't trust herself to travel further down that line of thought, her mind already proving unreliable. Acutely aware of the continued stares in her direction, she fumbled with the small plastic spoon. For a while, the effort of manipulating the flimsy human implement with her claws, and the feeling of food in her belly, even the somewhat watery scrambled eggs, let her forget the other humans around her, Avery included. Until he spoke.

"So, Sophi-" Avery continued but Zoroark didn't hear what he said.

The twitch of her claws sent the plastic spoon spinning from her grip. She snarled. "Don't call me that!" The paw she had resting on the table sank claws into the faux wood top, leaving small gouges in the particle board. She hadn't intended such ferocity, her voice echoing through the large room, bringing a sudden hush to the other groups of humans.

Zoroark didn't trust herself to look up at them, to not do something stupid. One night away from the Aether Foundation and she could barely control herself. Maybe she deserved a cage. The table creaked beneath her claws.

Avery kept his voice gentle and quiet. "I'm sorry. I didn't- What name would you prefer?" His composure only made her more bitter.

"I don't care," she muttered, all too aware of those staring at them – at her. "Just not that."

Avery paused before speaking again. "I could call you ZN-4." He didn't mock her, his voice too careful, but his tone held a slight hint of exasperation at the awkward designation. A serial number fit what she was far better than some dishonest attempt to make her seem more human, to make the scientists feel more comfortable with what they did, to pretend they treated her like a person.

"Fine." Zoroark picked up one of the blue berries in her claws, no longer bothering with utensils. Her fangs tore its soft flesh in a pleasurable way, spurting a few droplets of sweet juice across the tabletop.

Avery sighed but didn't argue, and their conversation lulled. Zoroark no longer felt hungry, but she finished almost everything in front of her, and by the end of it, she did feel a little better, less ready to snap at everything around her. Slightly. She noticed Avery watching her carefully, having long finished his own meal.

"What happens to me now?" Zoroark asked.

"That's partly up to you. Hopefully you can provide any information you have about the Aether Foundation, help our scientists understand what-" Avery paused, awkwardly changing his sentence mid thought, "more about you.

"You have a place here, to work with us, if you wish. Or, if you're careful, you can go live your life away from all of this." Avery waved vaguely around them. "The Aether Foundation has few agents in Unova. You should be safe enough here as long as you don't draw attention to yourself. You could even leave this half of the world altogether, Kalos maybe." He shrugged. Had that been a jab at her?

Zoroark growled to herself. Part of her almost hoped she couldn't leave. No one had ever given her a choice on anything before, and she found the thought intimidating. No one taught her anything other than to obey. Think, yes, but only to effectively carry out orders given to her. She felt blank inside. She was a tool to be given purpose by others. Avery seemed to pick up on her internal struggle. He read her too easily.

"Something to think about. You'll probably be stuck here at least another week or two." He looked pensive for a moment. "I promised I wouldn't mention it until you've been cleared by medical, but since you look half ready to leap across the table at me, we do have a practice arena here. I'm sure we could find a hot-headed field agent willing to test their team against you. If you're still interested in that kind of thing."

Zoroark tried to release some of the unconscious tension from her shoulders, to relax against the plastic chair back. Part of her quivered with anticipation, and she didn't know how to feel about that either. The claws on her right paw twitched.

She spoke in a measured tone, trying not to sound too eager. Her words still came out as a growl. "I would enjoy that." Something in her response cause a flicker of hesitation in Avery's face, but he quickly masked it.

A thought came to Zoroark. "Did you take any of the others? From the lab I mean."

Avery shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry. I didn't have access to the lower levels. Luck had it they kept you in the medical wing after the surgery. I took the chance and fled."

"We didn't interact outside of battle. I never even spoke to any of them." Zoroark ran a claw across the smooth tabletop. It would have felt somewhat less lonely though, even if they hated each other almost as much as they did Aether Foundation and their directors.

"Anything else you might like to do today?" Avery asked, pulling her from spiraling thoughts in an obvious if welcome change of topic.

Zoroark shook her head. She felt – exhausted, like it took all her effort to simply avoid thinking about the looming storm of emotions that lurked at her mind's edge, waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness. Some of those had always been there, but she could no longer offload and forget them.

"There will be someone posted outside your door if you ever need anything." He avoided using the term guard. "But I was going to take a quick walk outside, if you wanted to join me."

Zoroark glanced around the room, where others still occasionally shot curious glances her way. The thought of returning to her small room and curling up in the dark seemed quite appealing. "What would we do?"

Avery chuckled. "Walk I suppose. There's not much to see, just a small courtyard, but I hear it's a nice day out and figured you might not have had much time above ground."

Not untrue. Still, she fought to ignore the sour taste at the back of her tongue. The times she had spent outside of the lab, field testing- She tried not to remember. Eventually Zoroark nodded. "Okay."

Avery smiled at her, and shortly after she found herself following him back through the unadorned concrete passageways towards the elevator. Once inside the confined space though, Zoroark found it hard to ignore her growing anxiety, the queasy feeling in her gut not helped by the elevator's lurching motion.

Her paws clenched unconsciously. There wouldn't be a field test waiting for her, not here. The connection remained quiet, a strange absence from her thoughts. No link, no director, no buzzing. No test. An electronic bell sounded quietly, and Zoroark's whole body tensed. The elevator doors opened to an unassuming foyer.

A few other humans stood scattered about, but their alert postures and the number of eyes that snapped to her and Avery told Zoroark they weren't just workers on break despite their nondescript clothing. Avery nodded to a tall burly looking man. None of the ostensibly not guards stopped them however, and bright natural sunlight shone through the narrow windows set into the door. Avery led them out, and Zoroark followed hesitantly, peering around his shoulder.

Vibrant and sweet green scents filled the air, a rich mix of damp earth and fragrant pollen, such a stark difference to the familiar musty, sweaty human buildings. Zoroark breathed in deep, picking through the wondrously fresh and exciting smells. She opened her eyes to find Avery watching her from a few paces ahead, the hint of a smile on his face.

Zoroark hurried forward, falling back into step. She spoke softly. "What should I do?"

A long paved road led down into a garage a small distance away from the building, which seemed a bit out of place with no other structures anywhere Zoroark could see. A neat lawn of trimmed grass filled the courtyard, divided by a circular path of slightly roughed concrete, grating beneath her paw pads. Nothing but flat grassy field surrounded the building, though she could make out a chain-link fence surrounding the entire property far in the distance. No one short of a Zoroark could approach the building unnoticed.

A completely uninteresting exterior of red brick, regularly broken up by tall narrow windows, only rose two stories as if to disguise the massive complex that hid below. She didn't see any other humans around.

Avery chuckled. "Whatever you want. I was going to have a seat over there for a bit," he pointed towards a black painted bench made of many curved strips of metal, "but you don't have to follow me around."

Whatever she wanted. Avery walked away towards his bench, but Zoroark found herself hesitating. She didn't have to follow him, he hadn't ordered her to, and that almost felt like a challenge. Instead, she took a short step from the concrete path, so very sick of the material, and onto the grass, shivering at the feel of springy little blades giving way underfoot, some wriggling to poke up between her blood red claws.

Humans must care for the lawn, keeping it neat and sculpted, too perfect. Zoroark looked off to the side, where a large open expanse of the willowy plants grew, sweeping waves rolling through the grass with the breeze. She found herself making her way towards the field, slow and reserved, knowing at least one human watched her, but a part of her wanted to drop to all fours and run.

By the time she reached the edge of the swaying grassy sea, Zoroark had fallen into an eager lope. The tall, nearly knee-high blades grasped at her feet, encouraging her to slow, fall into their wiggly embrace, which she did willingly. The sweet grassy scent filled her sensitive nose, and she rolled, enjoying the feel of hundreds of soft little plants wash around her, poke gently at her fur and nose and mouth.

She thrust her face through the stalks and they parted easily, welcoming. Zoroark had almost her entire body pressed to the ground, which hadn't seen rain in a few days, but still felt indescribably softer than concrete and smelled so much fuller than the dust that collected inside lifeless human structures.

Sunlight infused her dark fur with a warmth that harsh fluorescent lights never could. Zoroark wriggled through her grassy bed, belly shuffling pleasantly along the ground, claws able to dig into the forgiving earth for traction. This felt right in a very primal way, and for a time she simply lay there and enjoyed it.

Whether instinctual or something else, Zoroark couldn't tell, but she found herself chewing at the grass, not eating it, but tasting the bitter sweetness, sharper where her teeth tore the delicate green stalks. She didn't care, didn't think, didn't have to. No one forced her to hurt.

Zoroark lay in the field for a long time, almost happy.


End file.
